


Pumpkin Carving Cut

by LadyCressa



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Carving pumpkins, F/M, Gochi - Freeform, Halloween, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, literally?, touch of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:29:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27110491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyCressa/pseuds/LadyCressa
Summary: Prompt request for Reda off a Fall Prompts list from Tumblr. Prompt: An injury occurs while carving pumpkins. Set between the end of DB and beginning of Z. Hope you like!Hurt/Comfort... literally? idk lol Also a touch of angst
Relationships: Chi-Chi/Son Goku (Dragon Ball)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 23





	Pumpkin Carving Cut

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Reda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reda/gifts).



Pumpkin Carving Cut

It was only the beginning of fall and the temperature was already dropping. It was cool enough I gave Chichi my jacket as we walked home along the forest path from our late afternoon shopping trip to the nearby village.

Chichi sighed as we stepped inside our house. She carried her shopping bags into the kitchen while I set down our large pumpkins we bought and made a fire for her. Chichi liked a fire going. It helped keep the house warm—especially through the night as the weather cooled off.

I followed the warm glow of her _ki_ into the kitchen. Chichi unpacked the pumpkin carving tools she bought on the table, arranging them in a neat row. Chichi added some of our knives to the selection. Some I recognized—like the serrated knife I used to clean the giant fish I caught in the river.

"Bring the pumpkins to the table, please," said Chichi with a glance my way. "I'd help you but…" one of her hands settled on her stomach.

I touched her shoulder. "Yeah… remember what that old lady said when she came to see you yesterday."

Her gaze darted over to meet mine again. She nodded with a quiet hum and a glow in her eyes. "Yeah, I know. No heavy lifting."

Chichi smiled like that a lot lately. I couldn't take my eyes off her when she did that. The old lady told me I was supposed to take extra good care of Chichi in the coming months because our lives were about to change.

Chichi giggled. "The pumpkins, Goku."

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Heh. Right."

I brought the pumpkins to the kitchen for her. The pumpkins weren't heavy at all to me. The guy in the village who sold them to us said they were twenty pounds each but I hardly felt the weight. I liked the big ones and Chichi agreed. She also bought several little pumpkins for a pie later.

I looked back and forth between the steak knife in my hand and the pumpkin on the table, wondering where to start. Maybe Chichi knew what to do. She knew lots of stuff. Knife in hand, Chichi made her first few careful cuts around the stem with her tongue between her teeth and her eyebrows bunched together. She looked so cute like that I couldn't help but chuckle.

Chichi's knife froze as her startled gaze darted to meet mine. Her eyes lit up with her light giggle as she set her knife on the table. "Heh… I haven't done one of these since I was a kid. My dad wouldn't let me use the knife, anyway."

"My grandpa didn't let me do the cuttin', either," I said with a twitch of my shoulders. I set my knife down. "We only did this a couple times before he died."

Chichi touched my hand and my heart did a funny sort of flutter at the contact. "Then how about we figure this out together?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

I pressed the knife's blade in the pumpkin's hard flesh next to the stem and copied Chichi's sawing motions all the way around the top of the pumpkin. Her cuts were neater and more even than mine but I got the job done. I popped the top off with a squelching sound and a clump of yellow stringy stuff with seeds came free.

"We have to scoop out all the pulp and seeds, now." Chichi tapped the small plastic mixing bowl between us with the flat side of her knife. "Put them in here and I'll roast them. We'll have pumpkin seeds and a pie later."

I grinned and nodded.

Chichi set down her knife and pushed her sleeve further up her elbow. She reached inside the pumpkin and wrinkled her nose. Chichi plopped the first handful of stringy seeds in the bowl and pulled out the next handful. I cleaned out the mushy insides of my pumpkin, too.

"Hey, look. My hands are orange!" I said as I held them up.

Chichi showed me her orange hands, too. We both laughed.

Chichi cut out a neat triangle near the top of the pumpkin. She said that was an eye. I did my best to copy what she did but my eye just looked angry. I had a little more luck with the second eye. Chichi punched out a smaller triangle for a nose below and in between her pumpkin's eyes.

Chichi rose from her seat for a better angle and tipped the pumpkin over so its face looked up at her. "Now for the jack-o-lantern's smile."

I frowned as I sliced through my pumpkin, trying to keep the cuts a little neater than my pumpkin's jagged eyes. My pumpkin's nose actually looked like a triangle.

I smiled as I turned to Chichi. "Hey! I—"

Chichi looked at me, her eyes lighting up. Her hand slipped down the knife's handle, down to the serrated blade stuck half way out of her pumpkin, and the light in her eyes vanished. My heart missed a beat. Chichi recoiled with a yelp, pulled her hand into her body.

I jumped from my chair, my heart pounding in my throat. "Chichi!"

Deep red blood oozed through her fingers, her face screwed up with pain.

I touched her wrist. "Can I look?"

Chichi nodded and let me tug her trembling hand away from her body. I opened her delicate fingers as gently as I could. Chichi sucked a breath in through her teeth. My gut clenched at the sight of the bloody gash across her palm.

I grabbed one of the clean wet rags Chichi left on the table and wiped away some of the blood from her hand. "I'm going to put a little pressure on the cut, okay?"

Another nod.

Chichi whimpered as I pressed the rag into her hand. I took her good hand and guided it to the damp rag covering the gash. "Keep pressure on that. I'm going to find you a bandage."

"Try under the sink in our bathroom," Chichi said through her teeth.

I nodded once, the movement stiff, and rushed down the hall.

In our bathroom, I dropped to my knees in front of the cabinet beneath the sink and threw it open.

I growled. "Too many boxes."

I tossed aside cleaning supplies, small boxes of stuff Chichi needed around, and finally found the box of bandages in the back of the cabinet. I slammed the cabinet door shut and hurried back to Chichi waiting for me in the kitchen.

Chichi stood at the sink where she did her best to clean the yellow pumpkin goop off her hands and away from the cut. Chichi turned off the water and held her palm toward me. My gut clenched all over again my gaze settled on her cut, there because I distracted her. Chichi was hurt and it was my fault.

"It's not bleeding anymore," said Chichi.

Her tone was almost reassuring—if she didn't still sound like she was in pain.

I grabbed a clean towel and blotted her hand dry, being careful not to make her cut bleed again or cause her more pain than she was already in. I tore open the thin paper packet and exposed the sticky bandage. I pressed it on the cut on her hand. I blew out a breath as the tension I didn't know I held onto faded from my muscles.

My shoulders slumped and I hung my head. "Chichi. I'm… I'm sorry. I'm supposed to take care of you but…"

A light touch settled on my chin and tilted my face up to meet her gaze. Chichi was smiling. It was my fault she got hurt and she was smiling at me.

"I'm okay, sweetheart," said Chichi. "I don't think it's that deep, anyway."

Chichi pushed herself up to her tiptoes and pressed her lips to mine. Chichi turned and walked to the table, taking her seat at her pumpkin. I just stared at her. She was bleeding because of me just a minute before and she wasn't even mad about it.

Chichi glanced at me, giggled as she picked up her knife. "Well? Aren't we going to finish carving these pumpkins?"

I felt my lips twitch up as I nodded. "Sure."

All we had left to do was give our pumpkins mouths. Chichi worked carefully, making sure she didn't open up her cut again and I helped her when she needed it. When we were done, Chichi's pumpkin looked happy and bright. Mine just looked like a monster with a creepy, jagged smile. We laughed at it. That night, we lit candles inside them and turned out the lights.

Where Chichi's jack-o-lantern casted a warm, inviting glow, mine just looked even more creepy. We laughed some more. Chichi's eyes reflected the jack-o-lanterns' warm glow and drew me in. Chichi leaned toward me. I touched her cheek and pressed my lips to hers, humming at the contact. It was nice having someone to share this with.


End file.
